Today’s been the first real fall-feeling day that we’ve had so far. Technically there’s still a couple more weeks of “summer,” but even though I haven’t been a student for several years, my brain still switches into fall mode once school starts. When I was younger I used to hate fall. I associated it (as you can see) with school starting, which always meant anxiety, wearing uniforms, and staying up to all hours of the night doing homework. Somewhere along the line after school ended, I started to enjoy fall again. Here’s some things I’m looking forward to:

2. Long-sleeve t-shirts.
The ones from shirt.woot are super-comfy. They don’t come in women’s sizes so they’re kind of baggy, but they’re awesome for just relaxing and feeling comfy.

3. Theatres starting up their new seasons.
Lots of shows to see! And readings! And also the deadline rush for winter and spring festivals, which means I really need to get some 10-minute plays together soon.

4. Hot apple cider.
And also apple picking, but I haven’t been able to actually go and do that in years.

5. Red and yellow leaves!
And finding the most perfectly crunchable leaves to step on.

6. Cool mornings and nights.
I can have coffee in the morning without blasting the air conditioner, but it still warms up enough to not need a jacket or to just throw on a hoodie.

7. Halloween.
Candy and costumes.

8. Fall-scented candles.
I love “Leaves” for September and “Pumpkin Patch” for October from Bath and Body Works.

9. The cats get snuggly again.
It’s cool enough for them to feel like sitting on your lap.

10. This-year-specific things to look forward to:
Mike and Amy’s wedding; driving lessons and trying to get my license before snow season hits; friends-and-baby visiting! and (hopefully asap) planning a trip to Chicago for another friends-visit.